CHARACTER Very formal but the elegance of the interior and the service more than makes up for that. Part of the Starwood group and the attention to detail is noticeable throughout the hotel. The original building dates back to the late 18th century, with the latest restoration in the mid-Nineties. One particular feature is the magnificent wood-panelled Serpentinsaal, which has been restored to its 1865 design; it's used for weddings and grand dinners. The AquaMarin spa boasts a Finnish sauna, steam bath, well-equipped fitness room and elaborately landscaped pool.

ROOMS The 92 rooms (including 12 suites) are supremely comfortable, with gorgeous myrtle sideboards, tables and cupboards, and the beds are huge. Floor-to-ceiling windows in some of the rooms make those the ones to choose, while the marble bathrooms are spacious and inviting. Some of the rooms could do with a makeover – one is planned that will include replacing the cumbersome televisions with flatscreen versions.

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FOOD The Villers restaurant reflects the formal atmosphere of the rest of the hotel, and breakfast – though delicious and varied – was a little hushed. Chef Till Weiss specialises in adventurous regional German and international cuisine, while elsewhere in the hotel head for the Pianobar Wintergarten or Vinotheque 1770, an impressively stocked wine bar (try the German reds) where the light bar menu includes an excellent cheese board.

WE LIKE The grandness of the place, the spacious rooms and the lovely courtyard with its private entrance to the charming Protestant Reformed Church.

NOT SO KEEN The seats outside Vinotheque overlook the road and the hotel can seem like a meeting place for businessmen.

Dresden

If Leipzig boasts about its role as a centre of culture and learning, then its long-standing rival in Saxony, the state capital Dresden – just over an hour away by train – is not far behind in the bragging stakes. Hugely conscious of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, both cities are making impressive statements this year to mark the event: Leipzig with a Light Festival and Dresden with its "No Violence" exhibition in the Stadtmuseum.

Despite the devastation suffered at the end of the Second World War and the drabness of the GDR era, Dresden has been meticulously restored. Fortunately much of the Baroque quarter of the city escaped the Allied bombs, which were mainly directed at the other side of the Elbe river. It's here you can also find the Hotel Bülow Residenz (0049 351 80030; www.buelow-residenz.de, doubles from £211), a charming small hotel housed in a building dating from 1730. Immaculately run, the hotel has just 30 rooms (five suites), a Michelin star and an unusual bar located in a former coal cellar. A companion hotel, the Hotel Bülow Palais, with 60 rooms and just a few doors away, is due to open in September.